The Power of Pleasure

Pleasure is a great touch stone of where to head in your life. If you think about it, it's pretty obvious. If what you are doing is causing you pain, making you stressed out, bringing up load of frustration, perhaps you are off track. If what you are doing is making you feel good physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually, you are more likely to be on the right track. I believe it is very important for individuals to find there proper direction in life by using their passion as the compass. Life is too short to not do the things you love!

Pleasure is available at any time. We have a choice to focus on the means to pleasure, or on the true goal, which is the pleasure itself. For example, "If I just had the car, the house, the girlfriend, the massage.... then I would be happy." Pleasure is a living experience we can tap into at any time. We have an infinite capacity for pleasure, but in order to experience it, we have to focus on it by trimming the sails a turning the rudder so the experience of pleasure and happiness are what we are directing our attention to as often as we can. That way, every moment has pleasure in it, instead of only having that experience once a goal is reached. Focusing on the goal is like thinking about what the third course might taste like while you are eating.the first course. I am not saying we shouldn't focus on goals, rather, when we squeeze the full enjoyment out of the present moment, all of life becomes more enjoyable.

Practicing gratitude is a great way to get pleasure. When we live you life filled with gratitude, life is much more pleasure filled. When ever we focus on expands to fill our consciousness. It is the filter that we view life through. So put on your rose colored glasses, and get on the bus!

Back in the eighties, I got interested in Tantra as a means to transform consciousness regarding the sanctity of sexuality. Many of us have been inculturated to believe that sex and sexual pleasure is a sin. This just did not make sense to me. How could something that feels so good be bad? When I learned about Tantra, I was instantly enrolled, because it made sense to me that union brought a person closer to God, instead of farther away. I wanted to learn how to use pleasure as a means to enlightenment. I had the good fortune to connect with some serious yogic tantra practitioners, and began to study Kriya Tantra, which is a fabulous yogic tantra form which uses the energy generated from sexuality for enlightenment. I love the idea (and the practice!) of a spiritual tradition which focuses on pleasure. I am now a Ipsalu Kriya yoga instructor, and get a lot of pleasure out of sharing these deep and effective techniques for enlightenment through pleasure with others.

Pleasure is your birthright as well as being state of mind. I believe that we are here on Earth not only to accomplish good works, but to enjoy the beauty of our experience. The more natural joy and experiences of pleasure we can generate, the more beauty, joy and pleasure exists on this plane. Joy and pleasure are infectious. When we tap into our natural joy, it is possible to share that with others, spreading the power of positivity. That power of positivity helps to create a more beautiful reality for everyone.

Wishing you all unlimited joy and pleasure,